Drainage basin, or catchment - part earth's surface, including the thickness of soil from which a river or river network receives water supply. The drainage area genetically determines the quantity and quality of runoff, thereby laying down the basic parameters of natural water resources.
Each river basin has surface and underground watersheds. A surface catchment is an area of the earth's surface from which water flows into a river network. An underground watershed is a part of the soil thickness from which water flows underground into the river network. The surface watershed may not coincide with the underground one.
A river that flows directly into the sea or into a closed lake is called the main one; the rivers flowing into the main one are tributaries of the first order, followed by tributaries of the second order, third, etc. The combination of the main river with all its tributaries forms a river system. The ratio of the total length of all rivers of a basin (or other territory) to the area characterizes the density of the river network.
Eight of the world's 50 largest river basins are located in whole or in part on Russian territory: the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Amur, Volga, Dnieper, Don, and Ural river basins.
The Ob River has the largest basin area - 2990 thousand km2; the length of the river is 3650 km (from the source of the Katun River - 4338 km, from the source of the Irtysh River - 5410 km).
In the Yenisei River basin (basin area 2,580 thousand km2, river length - 3,487 km; length from the sources of the Small Yenisei River - 4,102 km) there is a unique one, which, together with adjacent territories, including protected areas, is classified as a World Natural Heritage Site.
The area of the Lena River basin is 2490 thousand km2. The river, 4400 km long, originates on the slopes of the Baikal ridge, flows into, forming a large (about 30 thousand km2) delta.
Most of the Amur River basin is located in Russia. The Amur is one of the largest rivers in the Far Eastern region (length 2824 km; from the source of the Argun River - 4440 km; basin area 1855 km2). A serious problem of the river is the intensive development of the right bank of the river by the PRC, and therefore last decade The load on the basin's ecosystems has increased sharply. Wasteful use natural resources, with a significant difference between Chinese environmental standards and Russian standards, leads to a change in natural resource potential, in particular, to a deterioration in the condition of valuable species commercial fish, disruption of seasonal migration routes of ungulates and protected species of waterfowl, changes in the river fairway as a result of uncontrolled excavation work in the water protection zone, and its pollution with harmful substances.
The area of the Volga River drainage basin - the largest in Europe - is 1360 thousand km2, that is, 62.2% of the European part of Russia, 8% of the area of Russia, almost 13% of the territory of Europe. 2,600 rivers flow directly into the Volga (length 3,530 km), and in total there are more than 150 thousand watercourses more than 10 km long in the basin. Its largest tributaries are the Oka and Kama rivers. The catchment area of small rivers makes up 45% of the total area of the basin.
There are tens of thousands of rivers and streams on our planet. And each of them, even the smallest one, has a territory from which it collects its waters. In this article we will understand what a river basin is and what a watershed is. In addition, you will learn about the largest river basins on Earth.
rivers?
Water, as we know, is in constant motion. Falling onto the surface of the earth in the form atmospheric precipitation, it flows from higher elevations to lower ones. Sooner or later, all this water ends up in some watercourse.
Small streams merge to form small rivers. Those, in turn, flow into larger channels. If you look carefully physical card any territory, you can notice that all the rivers form a peculiar pattern on the surface of the Earth. In its external outline, it resembles a network of human blood vessels or a series of branched trees. Each of these “trees” is a separate river system. Now let’s try to figure out what a river basin is.
In the picture below you can see a picture of a classic river system. This is a diagram of the river basin. Here the Roman numeral I shows the main river, and the numbers II indicate its tributaries. The area outlined in red will be the river basin for this water system.
So what is a river basin? This is the territory from which one or another system collects its waters. A river basin can also be called a drainage basin, or even more simply, a drainage basin. All these terms refer to the same geographical concept.
What types of river basins are there?
All river basins are divided into two types:
- wastewater (the main rivers of which carry their waters into the oceans or seas);
- drainless (the main rivers of which flow into reservoirs that are in no way connected with the World Ocean).
River basins are also divided into:
- superficial;
- underground.
The surface parts of the river basin collect water and moisture that accumulates on the surface of the earth, and the underground parts, respectively, from sources located underground. It is important to note that the size and boundaries of underground watersheds are very difficult to determine. That is why hydrologists most often take into account only surface watersheds when assessing and characterizing a particular river system.
The shape, outline and size of a particular river basin depend on many factors: the geographical location of the river system, topography, vegetation cover, geology of the area, etc.
The largest river basins on the planet
The largest area on Earth is the Amazon River basin, which occupies almost a third of the South American continent. It is also the largest in terms of catchment volume. It is followed by the Congo (in Africa) and Mississippi (in North America) river basins. The largest drainage drainage basin on the planet is the Volga River basin.
The table below lists the ten largest river basins on the planet, indicating their area and geographical location.
River system name | Catchment area (thousand sq. km.) | |
Amazon | South America |
|
Mississippi | North America |
|
South America |
||
What is a watershed?
If we return to the diagram presented at the beginning of our article, we can see the red dotted line. This is the watershed - the boundary between river basins.
To more clearly imagine what it is, just take a small oblong stone (preferably with a pointed top) and pour a thin stream of water on it. You will see that one part of the poured water will flow to the ground on one side of the stone, and the other on the opposite side.
In scientific terms, a watershed is a conditional line on the earth's surface that separates two (or more) neighboring watersheds and directs the flow of precipitation in opposite directions. By analogy with river basins, watersheds are also divided into surface and underground.
Features and examples of watersheds
It is quite obvious that watershed lines in any area should pass along its most elevated sections. Thus, in mountainous areas they, as a rule, pass along the crests of ridges and individual peaks. On the plains, watersheds are poorly expressed in relief. Here they very often represent rather large flat spaces, within which the direction of water flow can periodically change.
Another important natural law: the higher the watershed line is located, the higher and faster will be the speed of water flow in all rivers and streams that flow from it.
The main watershed of the continent, separating the drainage basins of different oceans, is usually called continental. In Russia, the largest watershed is This is where the largest European rivers originate: the Volga, the Dnieper. Another important watershed in Russia is the Ural mountain system. The rivers that flow from its western slopes carry their waters into the Arctic Ocean. Watercourses flowing from the eastern slopes of the Urals later turn into the most important tributaries of the Ob, the largest river system in Siberia.
The shortest rivers
The shortest in the world are two American rivers: Roe River near the town of Great Falls, pcs. Montana, and Dee River in Lincoln City, PC. Oregon. The Roe River flows into the Missouri River; one of its branches is only 17.7 m long. The Dee River connects Devils Lake with the Pacific Ocean, and its total length is 37 + 1.5 m.
Roe River.
The most long rivers
The two longest rivers in the world are the Nile in Africa and the Amazon in South America.
River Nile, view from space.
The Amazon originates in Peru, where several streams merge to form the Apurimac River, which in turn becomes the Eni, Tambo and Ucayali Rivers. In the last section, 3,700 km long - from the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon all the way to the mouth - the river is called the Amazon. The Amazon has several mouths, so it is not entirely clear where it ends. If you measure the river moving towards its outermost mouth, the length of the Amazon will be about 6,750 km.
Amazon River, view from space.
The Nile, stretching from Burundi to Mediterranean Sea, had a length of 6670 km until Lake Nasser, formed after the construction of the Aswan High Dam, absorbed several meanders, i.e. bends of the river bed, reducing its length by several kilometers.
Underwater river
In 1952, an underwater river was discovered, called the Cromwell Current. It carries its waters east along the equator under the surface Pacific Ocean at a depth in places reaching 400 m. The unusual river has a width of 300 km and a length of 6500 km.
underground river
In August 1958, using radioisotopes, a river flowing under the Nile was discovered. Its average annual water flow is 6 times greater than that of the Nile - 500 km 2.
Amazon River, view from space.
The largest pool by the river
The largest basin in the world is near the Amazon River - it occupies 7,045,000 km 2.
The longest tributary of the river
One of the tributaries of the Amazon is Madeira (3380 km). Only 17 rivers in the world exceed it in length.
River Ob
The longest estuary by the river
The longest estuary is near the Ob River in northern Russia - its length is 885 km and its width is up to 80 km. The Ob is also the widest river, which, when frozen, is completely covered with ice.
Brahmaputra River
Largest river delta
The most extensive delta in the world is the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. It covers an area of 75,000 km2.
Largest river flow
Every second Amazon resets Atlantic Ocean 200,000 m3 of water, and during the flood period more than 340,000 m3
The most powerful boron inriver
Of all the 60 places in the world where this phenomenon is observed, the most amazing boron (a sharp rise in the water level of a river during high tide) can be observed on the Hanchufe River in Eastern China. During spring tides, the wave moves up the river at a speed of 24 - 27 km/h, and its approach can be heard from a distance of 22 km.
Congo - reka record holder
The Congo is the only major river that crosses the equator twice. It is the deepest and second longest river in Africa, the second largest river in the world after the Amazon.
The Congo is the deepest river in the world; in some sections its depth is more than 230 meters, which is an absolute record on the planet. Mostly such places are located in areas of large waterfalls, such as Livingston Falls (when the water falls from a height of 270 meters).
Longest island river
The Kapuas River flows on the island of Borneo and is the longest river in Indonesia, with a length of 1143 km.
The dirtiest river
The Citarum River is located in Indonesia. The river is an economically important waterway for the area and is heavily polluted by human activity. About 5 million people live in the river basin.
The highest mountain river
The Brahmaputra River originates from the Tibetan Plateau (PRC) at an altitude of more than 3500 m. The river has several names, depending on the area where it flows: in Tibet - Matsang and Yarlung-Tsangpo, at the place where it breaks through the Himalayas - Siang and Dihang, in India - Brahmaputra, in Bangladesh - Jamuna.
The widest river in the world
La Plata is an estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers in South America. At the confluence of the rivers, the width of La Plata is 48 km, the river flows to the southeast, expanding to 220 km when it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
Page 9 of 12
The largest, largest and longest rivers in the world. List.
|
Name |
Length (km) |
Basin area (thousand km²) |
Average water flow at the mouth (thousand m³/s) |
Highest water flow at the mouth (thousand m³/s) |
Solid waste (million tons/year) |
|
|
Amazon |
||||||
|
Nile |
||||||
|
Yangtze |
||||||
|
Mississippi - Missouri |
||||||
|
Yellow River |
||||||
|
Ob (with Irtysh) |
||||||
|
Parana (from the origins of Paranaiba) |
||||||
|
Mekong |
||||||
|
Amur (from the sources of Arguni) |
||||||
|
Lena |
||||||
|
Kongo (with Lualaba) |
||||||
|
Mackenzie (from the headwaters of the Peace River) |
||||||
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Niger |
||||||
|
Yenisei (from the origins of the Small Yenisei) |
||||||
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Volga |
||||||
|
Indus |
||||||
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Yukon |
||||||
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Danube |
||||||
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Orinoco |
||||||
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Ganges (with Brahmaputra) |
||||||
|
Zambezi |
||||||
|
Murray |
||||||
|
Dnieper |
5 largest, longest and largest rivers in the world by continent. Descriptions and characteristics of rivers.
1. The Amazon (6992 m) is the largest, longest and largest river in the world and South America.
Description of the Amazon River - the longest river in the world and South America.
Amazon is the absolute record holder both in length and in the fullness and area of the pool. For many years it was believed that longest river in the world is Neil, but latest research, carried out by comparing photographs from space and computer data processing, refuted this long ago known fact. The Amazon turned out to be 140 km longer than the Nile!
In 2011, according to the results of a global competition, the Amazon was recognized as one of the seven natural wonders of the world. And this is no coincidence. The Amazon is not only the longest, largest and largest river in the world and in South America, but also a unique place on our planet, home to more than a million species of different plants and animals. According to researchers, per 10 km² of tropical forest there are 1.5 thousand species of flowers, 750 species of trees, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds and countless invertebrate animals. Many of their species are not even described or identified. The Amazon and its tributaries are home to up to 2,000 species of fish, one of which is the well-known voracious predatory piranha.
The largest tropical rainforest on the planet is located in the basin of the longest river in the world. The climate here is hot and humid, all year round the air temperature fluctuates only between 25-28°C and it rains very often. There is practically no wind in the forest - the lush vegetation does not allow gusts of air to pass through. Even during a storm, only the tops of the trees sway here, and below reigns twilight and peace.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the world's longest underground river was discovered under the longest surface river in the world., flowing parallel to the Amazon at a depth of 4000 m. It originates in the Andes and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Its unofficial name is Hamza, in honor of the scientist who discovered it. The flow speed of the Hamza River does not exceed several meters per year, and the width is about 400 meters.
Main characteristics of the Amazon River. Description of the longest river in the world in numbers. Table.
|
River name |
Amazon |
|
Length of the Amazon River: |
|
|
- from the main source of the Marañon |
|
|
- from the source of Apacheta |
about 7000 km |
|
- from the source of Ucayali |
over 7000 km |
|
Continent |
South America |
|
Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana |
|
|
Source of the Amazon River |
Confluence of the Marañon and Ucayali rivers |
|
Source coordinates |
4°26′25″ S w. 73°26′50″ W. d. |
|
Estuary of the Amazon River |
Atlantic Ocean |
|
Mouth coordinates |
0°35′35″ S w. 49°57′22″ W d. |
|
Pool |
7,180,000 km² |
|
Water consumption |
|
|
Average annual flow |
about 7000 km³ |
|
Solid drain |
498 million tons/year |
|
River slope |
|
|
Amazon River flow speed |
|
|
Main tributaries on the right |
Jurua, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, Xingu, Tocantins |
|
Main tributaries on the left |
Isa, Japura, Rio Negro |
|
Annual rainfall |
2. Nile (6852) - the second of the largest, largest and longest rivers in the world and the longest river in Africa.
Description of the Nile River is the second largest, largest and longest river in the world and the longest river in Africa.
Nile- this is a genuine “river of life”, as it is the only river North Africa crossing the sands of the Sahara without drying up. The constant water flow is carried out due to precipitation falling in the upper reaches of the river.
Almost all settlements in Egypt are located along the Nile bed and almost all economic activities are concentrated. The waters of the world's second longest river are used for irrigation and electricity production (the Nile's energy resources are estimated at 50 GW), fishing and fish farming, water supply and shipping.
The Nile originates on the East African Plateau (Kagera River), flows through Lake Victoria (some sources indicate this lake as the source of the Nile River). The exit from the plateau is characterized by an abundance of rapids and waterfalls. After the confluence of the El Ghazal River, the river is called the White Nile and flows through semi-deserts and deserts to Khartoum, takes main tributary- The Blue Nile and under the name Nile itself flows to the Mediterranean Sea, at the confluence with which it forms a vast delta.
Floods in various parts rivers fall on different seasons: in the equator region - in the summer and winter seasons, in the northern part of the river - in the summer and autumn periods. Dams were built to regulate the flow of one of the world's longest rivers: Gebel Auliya on the White Nile, Aswan and Aswan High. The construction of dams protected the population from annual floods. This, on the one hand, deprived Agriculture the most important natural fertilizer - sludge, but, on the other hand, it increased the area of irrigated land and made it possible to harvest three crops per year from the fields.
Main characteristics of the Nile River. Description of the second longest, largest and largest river in the world and the longest river in Africa in numbers. Table.
|
River name |
|
|
Length of the Nile River: |
|
|
– Rukarara – Kagera – Nile |
|
|
- from the lake Victoria to the Mediterranean |
|
|
Current direction |
From south to north |
|
Continent |
|
|
Countries in the drainage basin |
Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt |
|
Largest cities |
Cairo, Khartoum, Aswan, Alexandria |
|
Source of the Nile River |
Confluence of the Rukarara and Kagera rivers |
|
Mouth of the Nile River |
Mediterranean Sea |
|
Mouth coordinates |
31°27′55″ n. w. 30°22′00″ E. d. |
|
Area of the Nile River Delta |
24 thousand km 2 |
|
Pool |
2.8-3.4 million km² |
|
Water consumption |
average 2600 m³/s |
|
Solid drain |
62 million m3/year |
|
Main tributaries on the right |
Achwa, Sobat, Blue Nile and Atbara |
|
Main tributaries on the left |
El Ghazal |
3. Yangtze (5800 km) - the third of the largest, largest and longest rivers in the world and the longest, largest and largest river in Eurasia.
Description of the Yangtze River - the third of the largest, largest and longest rivers in the world and the longest river in Eurasia.
Yangtze River originates in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau at an altitude of about 5600 km and flows through China from west to east, making a large turn to the south after Qinghai province. The lower course of the Yangtze passes through the southern part of the Great Chinese Plain, where the river is often divided into branches, with the width of the main channel reaching 2 km or more. In the area where it flows into the East China Sea, the Yangtze forms a large delta with an area of about 80 thousand km².
Four of China's five largest freshwater lakes drain into the Yangtze. The third of the longest rivers in the world has about 700 tributaries, the largest of which are the Yalongjiang, Minjiang, Jialingjiang, Tuo, Hanshui (Juhe).
The Yangtze River is of great cultural and economic importance to the country. This is China's main waterway. The total length of the waterways of the Yangtze basin exceeds 17 thousand km. The river is one of the world's busiest waterways. The volume of freight traffic in 2005 reached 795 million tons.
Covering a fifth of China, the Yangtze River basin is home to a third of the country's population and produces about 20% of GDP. The world's largest hydroelectric power station, the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Station, was built on the longest river in Eurasia.
The Yangtze River is home to many animals, including several endangered species such as the Chinese river dolphin, Chinese alligators and Korean sturgeons. In the basin of the third of the largest, largest and longest rivers in the world there are several nature reserves and part national park"Three Parallel Rivers", listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Main characteristics of the Yangtze River. Description of the third of the longest, largest and largest rivers in the world and the longest river in Eurasia in numbers. Table.
|
River name |
Yangtze |
|
River length Yangtze: |
5800 km (according to other sources – 6300 km) |
|
Current direction |
From west to east |
|
Continent |
|
|
Countries in the catchment area |
|
|
Largest cities, located on the longest river in Eurasia and the third longest river in the world. |
Panzhihua, Yibin, Luzhou, Chongqing, Yichang, Jingzhou, Shashi, Shishou, Yueyang, Xianning, Wuhan, Ezhou, Huangshi, Huanggang, Chaohu, Chizhou, Jiujiang, Anqing, Tongling, Wuhu, Hefei, Chuzhou, Maanshan, Taizhou, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Nantong, Shanghai |
|
Source Yangtze River |
Tibetan plateau |
|
Coordinates |
33°26′39″ n. w. 90°56′10″ E. d. |
|
Estuary Yangtze River |
East China Sea |
|
Delta area Yangtze River |
80 thousand km 2 |
|
Pool area Yangtze River |
1,808,500 km² |
|
Average annual flow |
|
|
Water consumption |
|
|
Solid drain |
280 million tons/year |
|
Main tributaries |
Yalongjiang, Minjiang, Jialingjiang, Tuo, Hanshui (Juhe) |
|
Average precipitation in the Yangtze River basin |
Description of the Mississippi River - the fourth largest, largest and longest river in the world and the longest river in North America.
Mississippi- one of greatest rivers peace. Together with the Missouri, it is the fourth longest river in the world and the largest, largest and longest river North America. The Mississippi flows through ten US states from north to south. The source of the river considered to be the Nicolette Creek River (according to other sources, Lake Itasca), flows into the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. River basin(the third largest after the Amazon and Congo river basins) stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians and from the Great Lakes region to the Gulf of Mexico, occupying an area of 3268 thousand km 2, which is 40% of the area of the United States, not counting Alaska.
Length of the Mississippi River is 3950 km (according to the Big Soviet Encyclopedia) or 3774 km (Wikipedia). It takes a drop of water 90 days to travel from its source to the mouth of a river.
Speaking about the Mississippi as the fourth of the longest rivers in the world, it should be borne in mind that we're talking about about the length of the Jefferson-Missouri-Mississippi river system. In total, the length of the three rivers is 6275 kilometers. When it comes to the longest river in North America, various sources They call either the Mississippi River (3774 km) or its tributary the Missouri (3767 km). In our classification of rivers by length, we proceeded from determining the length of the river from the source of its longest tributary to the mouth. Considered this way, the Mississippi is definitely the longest river in North America.
Mississippi- a convenient waterway from the Gulf of Mexico to central parts mainland, an important transport artery of the United States, connecting developed industrial and agricultural areas of the country. The rivers of the Mississippi system have a large economic importance. The total length of the basin's shipping routes is over 25 thousand square meters. km. A number of large power plants have been built on tributaries of the Mississippi.
River feeding mixed, snow and rain. Right tributaries bring mainly melt water, formed by melting snow in the Rocky Mountains, left tributaries feed the Mississippi with rain and stormwater. The Mississippi regime is characterized by spring-summer floods and stormy rain floods.
The longest, largest and largest river in North America is divided into three sections, the boundaries of which are the places where its largest tributaries, the Missouri and Ohio, flow into the Mississippi.
On the upper section the river flows through small lakes, overcoming rocky rifts and rapids in many places, the most significant of which are near the cities. Minneapolis (St. Anthony Falls), Davenport and Keokak. From Minneapolis to the mouth of the Missouri, the river is locked; there are more than 20 dams in this section.
On the middle section The fourth longest river in the world flows predominantly in one channel. Width river valley, limited by steep slopes, 15-20 km. In the middle section of the Mississippi it has interesting feature: dirty for 150-180 km, muddy waters Missouri flows next to relatively clear water Mississippi without mixing.
On the lower section The Mississippi River flows through a vast valley, gradually widening from 25 to 70 km. The river bed is winding, with numerous branches and oxbow lakes, forming in the lower reaches a labyrinth of channels, oxbow lakes, and vast floodplain swamps that are flooded during floods. At the end of the delta, the longest, largest and largest river in North America branches into 6 main relatively short branches 20-40 long km, flowing into the Gulf of Mexico.
Main characteristics of the Mississippi River. Description of the fourth of the longest, largest and largest rivers in the world and the longest river in North America in numbers.
|
River name |
Mississippi |
|
River length Mississippi: |
3950 km (according to other data - 3774), together with Missouri - 6420 km (according to other data - 6275) |
|
Current direction |
From North to South |
|
Continent |
North America |
|
Countries in the catchment area |
USA (98.5%), Canada (1.5%) |
|
Source of the river Mississippi |
Nicollet Creek |
|
Source coordinates |
47°14′23″ n. w. 95°12′27″ W d. |
|
Mouth of the river Mississippi |
Gulf of Mexico |
|
Mouth coordinates |
29°09′13″ n. w. 89°15′03″ W d. |
|
Delta area Mississippi River |
OK. 32 thousand km 2 |
|
Pool area Mississippi River |
3268 thousand km 2 |
|
Average annual flow |
about 600 m/km |
|
Water consumption |
7-20 thousand m³/s |
|
Solid drain |
400 million tons/year |
|
Right tributaries Mississippi River |
Minnesota, Des Moines, Missouri, Arkansas, Red River |
|
Left tributaries Mississippi River |
Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio |
5. Yellow River (5464 km) - the fifth of the largest, largest and longest rivers in the world and the second longest river in Eurasia.
Description of the Yellow River - the fifth of the largest, largest and longest rivers in the world and the second longest river in Asia.
Yellow River- one of the greatest rivers in the world, is the second longest river in Asia and the fifth longest river in the world. The name of the river means "Yellow River" in Chinese. Yellow The waters of the river are given an abundance of sediment, of which there is so much in the river that the sea into which it flows is called the Yellow Sea. The Yellow River ranks first in the world in terms of sediment volume (1.3 billion tons/year).
The Yellow River begins in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau at an altitude of over 4000 m, it flows through lakes Orin-Nur and Dzharin-Nur, spurs of the Kunlun and Nanshan mountain ranges. When crossing the Ordos and the Loess Plateau, in its middle course it forms a large bend, then through the gorges of the Shanxi Mountains it enters the Great Chinese Plain, along which it flows about 700 km before flowing into the Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea, forming a delta in the confluence area. According to various sources, the length of the river is from 4670 km to 5464 km, and the area of its basin is from 745 thousand km² to 771 thousand km².
Nutrition method Yellow River: rain, in the mountainous part of the basin also snow. Fifth of the longest, largest and large rivers The world has a monsoon regime with summer floods with a rise in water levels of up to 5 m on the plains and up to 20 m in the mountains. For flood protection A system of dams with a total length of more than 5,000 km was built along the river. Dam breaks led to catastrophic floods, accompanied by large-scale destruction and changes in the river bed (the maximum change in the river bed was about 800 km). Due to the incredible catastrophic floods, the Yellow River received the nickname “The Mountain of China.” It is known that over the past two thousand years, the Yellow River has overflowed its banks more than a thousand times, broken through dams, and at least 20 times significantly changed the trajectory of its bed. In 1931, during the Yellow River flood, according to various estimates, from 1,000,000 to 4,000,000 residents of the North China Plain died.
But despite this, the Yellow River basin provides about 140 million people drinking water and water for irrigation. A number of hydroelectric power stations were built on the river. Through the Grand Canal, the fifth largest, largest and longest river in the world is connected to the Huaihe and Yangtze Rivers.
The Yellow River flows through a total of seven modern provinces and two autonomous regions, namely the following (from west to east): Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia Hui, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong. The mouth of the Yellow River is located in Kenli County (Shandong).
The river is usually divided into three parts- upper, middle and lower reaches. The upper course of the river passes through the northeast of the Tibetan Plateau and the Loess Plateau of northwestern China; the middle course includes the valley between Ordos and Shaanxi and the gorges further downstream; the lower course of the river passes through the Great Chinese Plain.
Main characteristics of the Yellow River. Description of the fifth of the longest, largest and largest rivers in the world in numbers.
|
River name |
Yellow River |
|
River length Yellow River: |
According to various sources, from 4670 km to 5464 km |
|
Current direction |
From west to east |
|
Continent |
|
|
Countries in the catchment area |
|
|
Largest cities |
Lanzhou, Yinchuan, Wuhai, Baotou, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng and Jinan |
|
Source Yellow River |
Tibetan plateau |
|
Source coordinates |
34°59′33″ n. w. 96°03′48″ E d. |
|
Estuary Yellow River |
Yellow Sea |
|
Mouth coordinates |
37°47′03″ n. w. 119°18′10″ E. d. |
|
Delta area Yellow River |
127 thousand km 2 (submitted by G.E. Reinika and I.B. Singh) |
|
Pool area Yellow River |
from 745 thousand km² to 771 thousand km² |
|
Water consumption |
2000 m³/s |
|
Solid drain |
1.3 billion tons/year |
|
Right tributaries Yellow River |
|
|
Left tributaries Yellow River |
Wudinghe, Fynhe |
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